Oxwich Marsh Ringing Report 2018 – Gower Ornithological Society

2018 was the sixth year of Gower Ringing Group activity at Oxwich Marsh. The site also hosted the Welsh Ringing Course (in September) for the fourth consecutive year.

Species Totals
A total of 3,899 birds of 53 species were processed during the year. Blue tit (553), swallow (480) and reed warbler (272) were the most regularly captured species.

Species totals are presented in the table below.

Table 1. Total number of (unique) birds trapped at Oxwich Marsh, 2014-2018.

No	Species	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
1	Mute swan				7	1
2	Sparrowhawk	3		2		1
3	Water rail			3
4	Jack snipe	1	2	14	10	8
5	Snipe	11	4	19	55	60
6	Woodpigeon	1
7	Kingfisher	7	3	1	2
8	Green woodpecker		2			1
9	Great spotted woodpecker	14	23	21	33	47
10	Skylark	2	2
11	Sand martin	14	8	33	19	44
12	Swallow	382	399	595	709	480
13	House martin	1		5	104
14	Tree pipit	13	3	37	19	9
15	Meadow pipit	48	65	14	45	32
16	Yellow wagtail				3	1
17	Grey wagtail			1	7	3
18	Pied/White wagtail		7	44	101	41
19	Wren	74	96	76	70	76
20	Dunnock	61	50	39	74	97
21	Robin	101	68	49	77	71
22	Redstart		1	1
23	Whinchat		2			1
24	Stonechat	6	10	21	14	5
25	Wheatear			1
26	Blackbird	32	39	29	57	58
27	Song thrush	7	18	10	17	23
28	Redwing	8	99	42	92	10
29	Mistle thrush		1			1
30	Cetti’s warbler	28	24	26	40	37
31	Grasshopper warbler	6	11	19	13	5
32	Sedge warbler	120	145	177	142	194
33	Reed warbler	153	159	227	192	271
34	Lesser whitethroat	2	2	1		1
35	Whitethroat	42	34	36	23	29
36	Garden warbler	21	5	16	8	12
37	Blackcap	300	190	71	98	172
38	Yellow-browed warbler	1		16		4
39	Wood warbler	1
40	Chiffchaff	140	100	145	101	128
41	Willow warbler	94	85	146	72	98
42	Goldcrest	73	167	106	83	36
43	Firecrest	3	3	4	2	2
44	Long-tailed tit	30	37	42	21	27
45	Marsh tit	2				3
46	Willow tit			1		1
47	Coal tit	3	7	8	7	11
48	Blue tit	393	469	235	427	553
49	Great tit	127	153	135	149	259
50	Nuthatch		2	1		3
51	Treecreeper	1	7	7	3	7
52	Magpie	1	1	1		1
53	Starling	2			2	10
54	Chaffinch	196	265	208	157	187
55	Brambling	1		1	8	22
56	Greenfinch	355	468	244	139	88
57	Goldfinch	445	464	479	324	261
58	Siskin	62	58	150	218	251
59	Lesser redpoll		7	2	2	1
60	Bullfinch	19	13	2	14	11
61	Yellowhammer				1
62	Little bunting			1
63	Reed bunting	157	147	117	96	145
Total		3564	3925	3681	3857	3899

Statistical comparison between years is not
possible, as the total amount of net, the net rides used, and the number of
visits each month varied depending on the personnel available and the weather
conditions. Notwithstanding this, however, we aim to ring in the marsh twice a
week during passage periods and at least once a week at other times, and it is
possible to draw broad comparisons based on the data supplemented by field
observations.

Features of 2018 were:

A second very good year catching snipe. We have
now caught over 150 common snipe and 25 jack snipe on the marsh, and have
recaptured both species in consecutive winters, indicating between-year site
fidelity.
A predominantly good year for reedbed warblers.
We captured our highest number of reed and sedge warblers to date, while Cetti’s
warbler numbers were also above average. It was a poor year for grasshopper
warbler however; while we again proved breeding, autumn passage was limited to a single bird.
A productive year for a number of common
resident species including dunnock, blue tit, great tit and great spotted
woodpecker; the overall totals of these species were the highest recorded
during a calendar year to date.
An excellent first few months of 2018 for
brambling (by our own relatively modest standards). We captured a total of 30
birds during winter 2017/18, with 22 of these trapped between 16 January and 14
April 2018.
Good siskin numbers. Birds were present between
early January and mid-September, and at least two (possibly three) generations of young were recorded.
A drop off in goldfinch numbers, and a further
decline in greenfinch numbers, the latter almost certainly as a result of
trichomoniasis.
A disappointing August and early September for
tree pipit and garden warbler, and a poor late autumn for redwing and goldcrest.
The low totals mainly reflected weather patterns during key passage periods
preventing sessions being completed, but there appeared to be a lack of a late
autumn influx in goldcrest.

There were no new bird species ringed at the
site in 2018 – the first year to date we have not added a new species to the
site tally. There were also no rare birds processed during the year, albeit it
was good to capture four yellow-browed warblers, which are a relatively scarce
species in Gower, in the autumn. Other nice species to capture were green
woodpecker, yellow wagtail, whinchat, lesser whitethroat, mistle thrush, firecrest (2), willow
tit and marsh tit (3).

Absentees from the annual total were kingfisher
and house martin; the former seemed scarce at Oxwich this year, and may have
been affected by the cold end to the winter, while catching the latter is
always unpredictable. Despite the abundance of jays around the marsh, we have
yet to catch one; this is surely the next bird to be trapped at Oxwich.

Controls and Recoveries

The following were notable:

A dunnock ringed in Ivybridge, Devon, in July
2015 (when a juvenile), had made its way to Oxwich by March 2018. This is a
movement of 133 km in a northerly direction.
A reed warbler bird ringed
at the site as a juvenile in August 2010 (by the previous incumbent, Barry Stewart) and recaptured in July 2018.
A Cetti’s warbler ringed at Brandon Marsh,
Warwickshire as a recently fledged juvenile in June 2018 was recaptured at
Oxwich on 20 October; a west south-westerly movement of slightly in
excess of 200 km.
Two sedge warblers ringed at Uskmouth in 2016 have taken up residence on the marsh during the 2018 breeding season. While
this is not particularly notable, the birds were both ringed on the same day,
14 August 2016.
A magpie initially ringed on the marsh on 12
October 2013 and recaptured on 12 May 2018. The bird was a female with an engorged brood
patch.

Group News

The ringing group has grown steadily over the
past few years. We now have approximately twenty members, of whom around
sixteen regularly come to Oxwich.

During the year Stephen Vickers and Kirsty
Franklin both achieved their C Permits. The relatively short time in which they gained their permits was testimony to their hard work and commitment. They attended almost
all sessions at Oxwich during their first 6-8 months of training, spent time on
the Calf of Man and an extended period of volunteering on Skokholm (spanning
several months) during which they were ringing on a daily basis. They also
found time to go out with Tony Cross and Matt Prior, gaining a very good
grounding in different habitats and various other aspects of ringing as a result. They have both now moved
on (to the University of East Anglia) to begin ornithologically-focussed PhDs.

Acknowledgements

We
are extremely grateful to the Gower Society for providing a fourth year of grant
funding in 2018. Without this grant it would not have been possible to continue
ringing on the marsh with the same intensity as in previous years, and the data
gathered would consequently be far less useful. The grant substantially
contributed towards covering our costs.

Nick
Edwards (of Natural Resources Wales), who manages the marsh, has been
consistently supportive of our efforts since we began ringing in 2013, and we
are also very grateful for his continued backing.

Thanks
are also due to members of the Gower Ringing Group who have attended regularly
over the course of the year and provided the impetus and commitment to maintain
our efforts. In particular: Heather
Coats, Cedwyn Davies, Keith Vaughton, Wayne Morris, Emma Cole, Val Wilson, Paul
Aubrey, Stephen Vickers, Sophie de Grissac, Richard Dann, Sarah Davies, Martin Thomas, Kirsty
Franklin, Joanne Conway, Edward O’Connor, Bethan Dalton, Alex McCubbin, Amy
Schwartz, Kathryn Dunnett, Dionne Jenkins, Lara Bates-Prior and Martin Georgiev.

Finally
thanks to Kelvin Jones for organising the 2018 Welsh Ringing Course, to Martin
Hughes, Gwynedd Roberts, Tony Cross and Justin Walker for their support as
visiting trainers, and to Gower Ringing Group members for their assistance in
making everything tick.

Photographs are below, and the full PDF report can be found by following this LINK.

Owain Gabb

11/01/2018